Chapter 12

Taking Back HQ

Jean and Kara stared in shock at the Titan.

"What the? My God!" Jean said. Mikasa crashes through the window with Conny and Armin right behind her. Jean and Mikasa gasped. "Mikasa. You.."

"Wow. Close one. I was running on fumes. We made it here, though! Crazy, but we did." Conny said as she punched at his ODM gear. Jean and Kara came up to them.

"You.. I.. am I dreaming this, or what?" Jean said.

"I think we both are." Kara said. Conny slaps Armin on the back

"You're a certified genius! From now on, far as I'm conercned, your word is law." Conny said. Kara raised an eyebrow as Conny looked at his friends as he stood up. "Check it out! We found an Abnormal that's got a bone to pick with it's own kind." Conny pointed towards the Titan. "And the best part? He couldn't care less about us!" The Titan starts walking. "That's right, you heard me. This big beautiful 's our ticket out of here!"

"This is to good to be true." Kara said.

"You mean like fighting Fire with fire?" A Cadet asked.

"Listen to yourself. A Titan's not gonna help us! You're out of your mind if you think this can work." Jean said.

"It is working. For whatever reason he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let him do it. Trust me. You'll see." Mikasa said. Kara looked out to see The Titan punch a Titan to the ground. The Titan roars. "Either way. What choice do we have? Right now that thing is our best chance at Survival. Kara looked back at the Titan as it continued kicking other Titans butts.

They all sat around where the Elevator would take them to the supply room sat. Kara stood leaning against the wall. Jean and Marco had disappeared. Kara closed her eyes. So many were killed. She could hear Conny and Reiner talking, but blocked them out as the Elevator were brought up. It came to a stop. Kara ran a hand through her blonde hair.

"Good new!" Jean's voice, pulled her out of her thoughts. Jean came in with the others carrying boxes. "Courtesy of the Military Police. And covered in a layer of dust." They opened the boxes to find guns. Jean loaded one of them. "Are you absolutely sure buckshot is the way to go? Seems like we might as well throw spit wads. I mean, c'mon guys. Are guns even effective?" Armin started explaining the plan. Kara was checking her blades. She was one of the ones that were attacking the Titans with the others people would shoot at the Titans to give them time to kill. "You ready?" Jean came up to Kara.

"I'm ready." Kara said. Jean and Kara walked down the steps with their friends right behind them.

"Okay. I'm gonna ask the obviuos question. Can we do this without ODM gear?" Conny asked.

"No problem. These guys are only four meters tall. Their weak spots are not to far above eye level." Reiner said.

"He's right. Size won't be an issue, the spot's still only one meter high and ten centimeters across." Kara said.

"Back of the head to the nape of the neck!" Sasha said.

"Worse comes to worst, you can always just shove one of these.." Reiner said. He holds up his sword. "Up their ass. That's the other weak spot." Kara rolled her eyes.

"Are you serious? That's news to me!" Conny said.

"Did I miss a day of training or something?" Sasha asked.

"Come on. Knock it off, Reiner. You want your final words to be an ass joke?" Jean asked. Kara snorted. Jean gave her a wink.

The elevator is brought down with Marco and the others. Kara stood on one of the beams. Sasha, Jean, Reiner, Annie, Mikasa, and Conny were on other beams. There were seven Titans walking around. The ones in the elevator got their guns ready. The Titans turn towards the Elevator. Kara held her breath.

'Our lives are riding on this.' Jean thought. His eyes move towards Kara. She was watching the Titans. She felt eyes on her and she looks at Jean. He gave her a small smile. She returned it.

'We can do this.' Kara thought as she watched the Titans get closer. Cadets were whimpering.

"FIRE!" Marco yelled. Shots rang out. Titans fell back.

"Now!" Jean called. Kara ran across the beam as did the others. She lifed her swords up as she jumped down and slashed the neck of the Titan in front of her. Kara landed on the ground. All Titans, but two, fell. Sasha and Conny gasped as theirs were still standing.

"Damnit." Kara said. The Titans were heading for the two.

"Sasha and Conny missed." Marco called Jean gasped.

"Lead them the hell back." Jean yelled. Mikasa and Annie ran towards Sasha and Conny. Sasha screamed as one Titan fell towards her.

"I said I was sorry!" Sasha yelled. Mikasa slashed the nape of one and Annie slashed the nape of the other. Jean and Kara went to make sure all the Titans were dead as Mikasa and Annie checked on Sasha and Conny. Both were alright.

"They're all dead! Start loading up supplies!" Jean called. Kara stood fueling up her tanks. Everyone was celebrating. They were going to make it out alive. Sasha was freaking out and Conny was trying to calm her down. Kara rolled her eyes at the two. Jean and Marco sat fueling their tanks.

"You got a bruise forming on your check where Kara punched you." Marco said.

"Tch. I deserved it. I shouldn't have kissed her and just left her there." Jean said.

"Yeah. You shouldn't have. What were you thinking?" Marco said.

"Just that I wanted to kiss her before we faced certain death. I will talk to her after this." Jean said, looking towards Kara as she came up to them.

"We're ready to head over the wall." Kara said. Jean jumped down. They all head out. Cadets went flying off, heading for the wall. Mikasa and Armin were on a roof. Kara and Jean joined them. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie. joined them. The Abnormal was being snacked on by other Titans.

"This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us. That he'd help mankind break the cycle. Turn the tide just long enough to give us a little ray of hope." Mikasa said.

"She's right. He's to valuable to just let die. There's to much we can learn from him. I think it's perfectly clear our priority should be to ward the scavengers off him. He's no good to us picked apart." Reiner said.

"Are you out of your mind? We've got a path out of this nightmare and wanna stay?" Jean asked. Kara grabbed his arm.

"They might have a point." Kara said.

"Think about it. Having an Abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage right? A cannon's got nothing on a Titan who likes to rip apart his own kind." Annie said.

"You.. Do you hear yourself? He's not liek a new friend!" Jean said. Armin gasped.

"Oh, no. It's the Titan that at Thomas!" Armin said. A titan was heading for the Abnormal. The Abnormal roars as it knocks Titans off and charges towards the Titan. Its arms were ripped off as it grabs the Titan in its mouth by the nape. Everyone watches in shock as the Abnormal lifts the Titan in the air. It throws the Titan to the ground as another Titan approaches from behind. He uses the Titan to hit the other Titan and the Titan goes flying into buildings.

"Holy." Jean said. Kara had his arm in a vice grip, but he didn't care as the Abnormal roars. "What was that you were saying?" The Abnormal falls to the ground. Armin gasps. "Because I think it's a moot point now." Jean pulls his arm free from Kara and turns. "Alright, enough of this! Let's leave while we can. We're lucky the ugly bastard didn't get bored. We'd have been next on the menu." He looks back and gasps. Everyone was looking at the Abnormal. He came over. "Look, a Titan's a Titan.." Steam was coming out of the nape of its neck and a body was coming out of the nape. The body pulled itself free and Kara's eyes widen.

"Eren." Kara whispered as Mikasa went down to the ground and ran towards Eren. She caught Eren as he fell. Mikasa leans her head on his chest and feels the heartbeat. Mikasa's cries filled the air. Armin and Reiner landed on the ground and got Eren and brought him to the roof. Everyone looked at him as Mikasa grabbed him back in her arms.

"Impossible. He's alive. I thought he was eaten." Kara whispered. Armin kneals down and takes Eren's hand.

"How is this possible?" Armin asked. Armin was crying. Jean turned and looked back. Everyone looks out.

"Okay. So, uh.. Eren did all this?" Jean asked. Kara felt tears in her eyes.

To Levi. A soldiers screams came.

"Just wait til Captain Levi.." A hook connected to a Titan who was chewing a soldier and Levi went soaring past and cut its neck. It let go of the soldier. Levi landed on a roof. He looked towards a coming Titan.

"One on the right." Levi said. He saw two coming on the left. "Two on the left." Petra landed on the roof with Eld and Gunther.

"Captain. The Reinforcements are here." Petra said.

"Good. Tend to our corade below, Petra. You two, take out the Titan to your right! The pair on the left belong to me." Levi said. He runs down the roof.

"Captain, wait!" Petra called. Levi landed on the roof. Hange and her squad were taking out other Titans.

"I know you probably can't help being hideous." Levi said. He walked across the roof. One of the Titans opens its mouth at him. "But I can't help being tired of looking at you." He hooks his hooks to one of the towers and flies out of its reach. He hooks onto its necks and spin in the air and slice through the neck. He uses a wall to jump towards the other. He sends both his blades into the eyes of the other titan. The Titan screams in pain. "Uh oh. Easy, big stuff. Nobody's got time for a crybaby." He pulls out new blades. "Let's take it like a man, shall we?" Levi jumps in the air and comes down and slices through the neck. He lands on a roof as the Titan falls. He looks at his hand and sword. It was covered in Titan blood. "Ugh. Disgusting." He cleans the blade. He lands on the ground where Petra was taking care of the soldier. Petra looked up at him.

"Captain. I.. I can't stop the bleeding." Petra said. Levi looked at the Soldier. He had blood coming from his mouth.

"Captain Levi." The Soldier said. Levi knelt down next to him.

"I'm here." Levi said.

"Did that make a difference. Was.. Was I helpful? Please, sir. Don't tell me this was for nothing. Tell me this will advance the cause." The soldier said. He lifed his hand up. Levi grabbed it.

"We made great strides today, soldier. And tomorrow, because of you, your strength won't die with you; the torch will be carried on by me. This I swear on my very life. The Titans will be eradicated!" Levi said.

"Sir." Petra said. Her voice was breaking. She looked away as tears slid down her checks. "I'm sorry. He's.." Levi looked at the man. There was no light in his eyes. He looked at Petra.

"Did the man hear what I had to say? Any of it?" Levi said. Petra looked at the Soldier.

"Yes, sir. Matter of fact I think he heard all of it. Look at him. That's a face of peace." Petra said. Levi closed his eyes and stood up.

"We can hope." Levi said. A horse neigh comes.

"Levi!" Erwin's voice came. Levi turned to see Erwin coming their way. "We're pulling out."

"Sir." Petra said.

"What do you mean?" Levi said. Something was wrong. "You damn well know that we can push further! My men didn't die to pave our retreat!"

"There's a swarm of Titans moving north. They're bearing down on the city." Erwin said. Petra gasped and Levi lowered his eyes. "It's just like five years ago. Something tells me this is going to be bad. For all we know, the walls already been reduced to rubble." Erwin said.

"Where are they headed?" Levi asked.

"Trost." Erwin said.

"Captain. Isn't Kara and her fellow Cadets training in Trost with the Garrison?!" Petra said. Levi's eyes widen.

'Damn it.' Levi said as he whistled. His horse came running and he jumped on it.

"I'm going ahead." Levi said, kicking his horses sides. The horse took off.

'Don't die on me, Kara. Please still be alive.' Levi thought as he rode towards Trost.

AN: New chapter up. Till next time.